(All listings excerpted with permission from The Frugal Youth Cybrarian, by Calvin Ross, published by ALA Editions. Copyright American Library Association 1997. To order, call 1-800-545-2433 and press 7. ISBN0-8389-0694-X)
American Library Association
www.ala.org
Every librarian in the country should be familiar with the Web site of their very own association. Here you will find information on its services and its extensive array of programs, educational opportunities, conferences, and publications for librarians and the general public interested in library issues. Stay in tune with current activities, events, publications, and initiatives with frequent visits, and take advantage of the links to library-related resources.
Back to School: Electronic Library Classroom 101
web.csd.sc.edu/bck2skol/bck2skol.html
This page offers a course on Internet use. “Bck2Skol” represents a beginner’s course on the Internet and its various tools targeted toward librarians and other information professionals. Lessons include information on participating in mailing lists and USENET newsgroups, and cover basic Internet tools including telnet, FTP, gopher, Archie, Veronica, and the World Wide Web. Also provided are pointers to librarians on how best to use the Internet to research eight basic academic subject areas.
Big 6 Information Problem-Solving
edweb.sdsu.edu/edfirst/bigsix/bigsix.html
This site, by Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz, presents an organized approach for both teaching and learning information problem solving with an emphasis on critical thinking skills. It is geared toward librarians, teachers, and information specialists for use in helping learners acquire information literacy.
Children’s Literature: A Newsletter for Adults
www.parentsplace.com/readroom/childnew/index.html
ParentsPlace.com presents a newsletter with hundreds of online reviews of chidren’s books.
Children’s Literature Web Guide
www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/
This Web site gathers and categorizes the growing number of Internet resources related to books for children and young adults. There are compilations of book awards lists, information on children’s bestsellers, authors, and links to children’s literary resources for parents, teachers, and librarians. Of special interest are the links to discussion groups on the topic, as well as links to electronic text collections for children. This is an outstanding site for children’s literature.
Children’s Software Reviews
qv3pluto.leidenuniv.nl/steve/reviews/welcome.htm
This collection of WWW documents is intended as a repository for volunteer reviews of children’s software produced by the users of the newsgroup <misc.kids.computer>.
Copyright
www.chem.lsu.edu/htdocs/conferences/copyright/copyref.html
This Web site is a group of links to sites with information concerning the bedeviling issue of copyright law and policy. There are links to the U.S. Copyright Office Home Page, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Copyright Website, Supreme Court Decisions on copyright from Cornell Law Center, and many, many more. Surely those at libraries and schools will have the question “to use or not to use” answered here.
Engines for Education
www.ils.nwu.edu/~e_for_e/index.html
This Web site is sponsored by the Institute for the Learning Sciences at Northwestern University. Its objective is developing and transferring innovative educational technology from the laboratory to practical applications in businesses, schools, government agencies, and the community. This site may be of general interest to librarians and educators.
Fair Use Web Site
www.benedict.com/fair.htm#fair
A site dedicated to the intricacies of the “fair use” concept involving copyright law. This is an important topic for librarians and other educators.
From Now On: The Educational Technology Journal
fromnowon.org/
This online magazine discusses issues and ideas in the rapidly growing technological fields as they impact education and affect educators and families. Come here to stay current with trends in the virtual world. A sampling of articles revealed discussions of issues of importance to librarians such as AUPs, censorship, and information skills.
The GSLIS Multimedia Product Reviews
volvo.gslis.utexas.edu/~reviews/index.html
Here you’ll find reviews of current multimedia products by graduate students at the University of Texas, neatly divided into categories.
IFLANET Quotations About Libraries and Librarians
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/ifla/I/humour/subj.htm
Come here to read what they’ve been saying about you over the years. Some of it is humorous, and some of it deadly serious; you’ll nonetheless appreciate the warmth and wisdom.
Innovative Internet Applications in Libraries
www.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/libweb/innovate.html
This site offers a comprehensive view of how libraries today are using the Internet to expand their services. Topics include bibliographic instruction, cataloging, collection management, digital library projects, library research guides, and electronic publishing. Here you’ll find an open window to the libraries of today and tomorrow.
International Federation of Library
Associations and Institutions
www.nlc-bnc.ca/ifla/
This organization was created to provide librarians around the world with a forum for exchanging ideas and promoting international cooperation, research, and development in all fields of library activity. Its Web site will keep you in touch with conference information, publications, IFLANET Electronic Information Services, and more.
Internet Public Library
www.ipl.org
I was thrilled to find this huge Web site from the School of Information and Library Studies at the University of Michigan. It is a virtual construction of an actual library, with “rooms” and such. There is a reference desk which leads to extensive reference works such as dictionaries, atlases, and encyclopedias, and links to sites to support science, business and economics, education, environment, government and law, health and nutrition, social issues and services, and computers and the Internet. There are divisions for youth, teens, and MOO (Multi-User Object-Oriented environment, an interactive system accessible through telnet by many users at the same time). The library also has rooms called Classroom (with tutorials related to using the Internet, including interactive classroom lessons), Exhibit Hall (exhibits of art, photography, etc.), and the Reading Room (books in text and HTML, and magazines, journals, and newspapers from around the world). There are services for librarians and help with Web searching. This is the kind of site that can easily make a top-ten list.
Internet Source Validation Project
www.stemnet.nf.ca/Curriculum/Validate/back.html
Here’s some valuable help on the important subject of Internet source validation. The site is aimed at both students and teachers. The material here can help librarians develop guidelines for those who want to use the Internet as a source of information for research papers.
Jenny’s Cybrary to the Stars
sashimi.wwa.com/~jayhawk/
This refreshing and innovative Web site will lift your spirits while keeping you abreast of information resources on the World Wide Web. Especially valuable is the feature “Librarians’ Site du Jour,” where you’ll be introduced to new resources you may not have discovered yet. There also are links to library-related sites, Internet help sites, Windows 95 resources, and Jenny’s offbeat personal favorites.
Lex Systems—Library Automation Services
www.link.ca/~lex/
This is a commercial site for Lexifile, a full-featured OPAC/CIRC system for PC-compatible computers. According to Lex Systems, Lexifile “is fast, easy to use, and less expensive to learn than most similar programs.” You can download a sample program (sample.exe) which can build MARC records, print spine label sets, cards, lists, etc. The company also offers to contract to convert your data to MARC (machine readable) form.
Library and Information Science Resources
www.loc.gov/global/library/library.html
An important Library of Congress offering. They’ve put together a page of links to some of the most vital WWW sites for the library and information world. You’ll find access to national, state, and foreign library sites, as well as links grouped by special interest or type. Use the links to online library catalogs and to the research and reference services.
LION: Librarian Information Online Network
http://libertynet.org/~lion/lion.html
This site is an information resource for K–12 school librarians. You’ll find a wonderfully diverse set of resources.
LM_NET Archives
gopher://ericir.syr.edu:70/11/Listservs/LM_NET
Of great value to all school librarians is the LM_NET discussion group on school library media topics. This gopher site contains the archives of past discussions, organized into the past month’s messages, and messages by year back to 1993. You’ll find a convenient subject-line search of the archive. Also of interest is a directory of the discussion group’s members.
Mansfield Cybrarian
www.mnsfld.edu/~library/#contents
The Mansfield University Library Web site offers a vast array of links to library catalogs, as well as links to information resources on the WWW. This well-organized site provides research Web pointers by subject, links to reference works, guides to learning the Internet, Internet guides and lists of lists, search engines for navigating the Net, and software for downloading.
MARCmaker and MARCbreaker
gopher://marvel.loc.gov:2069/7?MARC
gopher://marvel.loc.gov:70/11/.ftppub/marc
These are the addresses for obtaining two freeware programs for working with MARC records.
The Public Service Librarian’s Professional Guide
to Internet Resources
k12.oit.umass.edu/libguide.html
The title of this Web site says it all. Resources you’ll find here include listservs, library catalogs, Internet lessons, resource lists and subject guides, indexes to the Internet, multipurpose sites for librarians, book reviews and literature, and discussions about copyright and censorship.
School Library Hotspots
www.mbnet.mb.ca/~mstimson/text/hotspots.html
This is a comprehensive site for library resources, focusing on core issues and needs, such as AUPs, information services, reference, materials sources and reviews, lesson plans, and more. There are links to many often-visited, highly valuable Web sites, including Kidopedia, LM_NET archives, and EdWeb, and links to a host of print and nonprint materials. This is another “one-stop-shopping” site for librarians.
Superkids Educational Software Review
www.superkids.com/
The goal of this site is to present unbiased reviews of children’s software by parents, teachers, and kids.
Ten Big Myths About Copyright Explained
www.clari.net/brad/copymyths.html
A Web page delving into a complicated issue for librarians, teachers, and all those who can get snared by the labyrinth of copyright law.
Welcome to Gale
http://www.gale.com/gale/default.html
The home page for Gale, a provider of CD-ROM, online, and book databases. Of special value here is the “Celebrate Libraries” page. It’s a nice place for a daily coffee break to stay in the know.
Young Adult Librarian’s Help/Homepage
www.kcpl.lib.mo.us/ya/
This site can be of special interest to middle school and high school librarians as well as public librarians with extensive young adult collections and services. It provides links to school and public libraries, electronic literature resources such as teen-oriented “e-zines,” and discussions relevant to professional issues for librarians. The resources here are designed for use by both young adult librarians and the patrons they serve. There are more than two hundred fifty links to relevant resources on the Web.
